Chile’s Kast Races to Harden Border, Cut Tax, Slash Red Tape (1)

Chile’s newly inaugurated President José Antonio Kasttraveled to the northern border on Monday to oversee the start of construction on barriers to keep out migrants, while his administration is promoting umbrella legislation to cut taxes and slash red tape.

In the frontier area of Chacalluta, Chile’s military is digging a three-meter-deep (9.8-feet) trench to block vehicles. The excavated material will be used to build an adjacent wall standing up to five meters to deter migrants.

José Antonio Kast, Chile’s president, left, and María Pía Adriasola, Chile’s first lady, during a speech following an inauguration ceremony at La Moneda palace in Santiago, Chile, on March 11, 2026.

Photographer: Cristóbal Olivares/Bloomberg

As the border works get underway in the north, the new administration is preparing for its first test in the fractured Congress with ...